Further and Farther: Competition or Functional Differentiation?

49 Pages·2014·0.25 MB·English

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KU Leuven
Faculty of Arts
Blijde Inkomststraat 21, box 3301
3000 Leuven, Belgium

Further and Farther: Competition or Functional Differentiation?

Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Master of Advanced Studies in Linguistics
By ASHRAF KHAMIS
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Hendrik De Smet
Academic year: 2013–14
11,279 words

Leuven, 13 August 2014
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ABSTRACT
In this thesis, we examine the kind of relationship that holds between further and
farther by means of a comparative corpus analysis covering the period from 1570
to 1920. From a diachronic standpoint, both forms have shown more functional
overlap than differentiation, their current division of labor having only gained
prominence since the 18th century. Taking into account their syntactic and
semantic properties, this study explores how further and farther could have
developed their present-day differentiation in the course of their history. Our aim
is not only to account for the preference of one form over the other in different
syntactic environments, but also to draw attention to their underlying semantics.
Arguing against the long-held prescriptive claims suggesting a distinction
between the two forms based on a figurative-physical contrast, we instead
acknowledge the important role that frequency plays in form choice.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................... 4
1.1 Further and farther in reference grammars................................................... 4
1.2 Various uses of further: Evidence for differentiation?.................................. 5
1.3 Further and farther: Historical functional overlap ....................................... 7
1.4 Research motivation and objectives ............................................................ 10
2 METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................ 12
2.1 Data extraction and sorting ......................................................................... 12
2.2 Data noise .................................................................................................... 13
2.3 Coding scheme ............................................................................................ 14
2.3.1 Syntactic scope ..................................................................................... 15
2.3.2 Semantic interpretation ......................................................................... 18
3 CORPUS RESULTS .......................................................................................... 23
3.1 Frequency analysis ...................................................................................... 23
3.2 Syntactic analysis ........................................................................................ 24
3.3 Semantic analysis ........................................................................................ 33
4 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................. 43
REFERENCES ..................................................................................................... 46
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1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Further and farther in reference grammars
A division of labor between further and farther with regard to their present-day
usage has been long maintained in the prescriptive tradition. Going as far back as
the 19th century, Cobbett (1883 [1818]: 49) implies that further is more flexible
in that it is not only the comparative degree of far but also serves an additive
function in the discourse, while farther is used exclusively to express distance.
Along similar lines, Garner (2003: 340) maintains that both comparative forms
have undergone differentiation, with further “[i]n the best usage” now referring to
figurative distance and farther to physical distance. Garner (2003: 340) concedes,
however, that this distinction is not always observed in practice, as reflected in his
explanatory notes in (1)–(2) below.
(1) After popping in to say hello to Sue’s dad, we walked further [read
farther] up Main Street to the Maritime Museum. (Garner 2003: 340)
(2) But the employees at One Marine Midland Center take the spirit of giving
a step farther [read further]. (Garner 2003: 340)
On the other hand, Fowler (2009 [1926]: 171) points out from a more
descriptive perspective that this kind of differentiation is far from established in
Present-Day English, with language users essentially opting for further for all
purposes and for farther where physical distance is concerned. Similarly, Quirk et
al. (1985: 458–9) argue against a clear-cut distinction between further and farther
on the basis of whether they express abstract or physical relations. Instead, Quirk
et al. (1985: 459) posit that further and by extension furthest denote both relation
types as indicated in (3)–(4) below. In contrast, farther is mostly restricted to
expressions of physical distance. Additionally, Quirk et al. (1985: 459) suggest
that the fact that furthest is favored over farthest in (4) with reference to a
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physical relation is largely motivated by commonality considerations (i.e. by
furthest typically being the more frequent form in that particular context).
(3) Nothing could be further from the truth. [expressing an abstract relation]
(Quirk et al. 1985: 459)
(4) My house is furthest from the station. [expressing physical distance]
(Quirk et al. 1985: 459)
On a separate note, Quirk et al. (1985: 523) also seem to hint at the potential
interchangeability of both adjectival and adverbial further and farther in their
capacity as ‘space adjuncts’ in (5)–(6) below.
(5) They are further/farther ahead/downstream than we are. [adjectival space
adjuncts] (Quirk et al. 1985: 523)
(6) He went further/farther up the mountain/through the wood than I did.
[adverbial space adjuncts] (Quirk et al. 1985: 523)
1.2 Various uses of further: Evidence for differentiation?
From the above accounts, it is reasonable to assume that some sort of functional
division of labor between further and farther is at work in Present-Day English.
This is most pronounced in three additional uses that seem to be exclusively
associated with further in the literature. First, Quirk et al. (1985: 459) maintain
that the most common use of further is not as the comparative form of far but in
the sense of ‘more’, ‘additional’, or ‘later’ as demonstrated in (7)–(9) below. A
similar position is echoed in Downing & Locke (2006: 485) where the three
aforementioned senses are supplemented with that of ‘other’.
(7) Any further questions? [‘more/additional/other’] (Quirk et al. 1985: 459)
(8) That’s a further reason for deciding now. [‘additional/other’] (Quirk et al.
1985: 459)
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(9) The school will be closed until further notice. [‘later’] (Quirk et al. 1985:
459)
Additionally, Huddleston & Pullum (2002: 353, 556) state that further in the
context of the NP serves as a ‘quantifying attributive’ that can modify plural
heads (e.g. questions as in (7)), count singulars (e.g. reason as in (8)), and non-
count singulars (e.g. notice as in (9)).
Leech & Svartvik (2003: 208), on the other hand, see prenominal further
as a postdeterminer that serves a deictic function by relating additional referential
information. In this sense, further belongs to a class of so-called ‘general ordinals’
(with next, last, other, etc.), which may precede or follow ordinal numbers (e.g. a
further three questions, three further questions) (Leech & Svartvik 2003: 209).
Similarly, on the basis of a synchronic corpus study, Breban & Davidse (2003)
conclude that further is an adjective of comparison that introduces new instances
of a known type with its postdeterminer use (see also Breban 2010: Chapter 3 for
a summary of the study’s main findings). In view of this, further in the context of
the NP has a textual rather than descriptive or propositional meaning, with its
postdeterminer status in Present-Day English being the result of subjectification
(Breban 2010: Chapter 4).
Second, using the Longman Spoken and Written English (LSWE) corpus,
Biber et al. (1999: 133) point out the use of further as a ‘linking adverbial’ (also
‘connective adjunct’ in Huddleston & Pullum 2002: 778) as illustrated in (10)–
(11) below.
(10) Further, these atoms interact with each other and with their environment
in unknown ways. [linking adverbial use] (Biber et al. 1999: 133)
(11) Mr. Justice Hirst said that the criteria in determining whether an overseas
company had established a place of business in Great Britain were
summarised in Palmer’s Company Law, 24th edn (1987) page 1658.
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Further, a visible sign or physical indication was not essential. [linking
adverbial use] (Biber et al. 1999: 876)
Linking adverbials serve the purpose of connecting two clauses by adding to the
preceding unit of discourse (Biber et al. 1999: 875). Additionally, they are noted
for being flexible (e.g. occurring clause-initially, pre-verbally, and post-verbally)
and sometimes for being prosodically and orthographically separated from the rest
of the clause (Biber et al. 1999: 876). For this reason, Huddleston & Pullum
(2002: 777) classify linking further as a member of the larger category ‘pure
connectives’ along with moreover, besides, and also.
Third and finally, Huddleston & Pullum (2002: 582) touch upon the minor
use of adverbial further as a degree marker (much like intensifiers really, utterly,
and actually) that can split infinitival to from its bare verb (e.g. to further delay
the meeting).
1.3 Further and farther: Historical functional overlap
It is easy to assume with the different meanings that further has come to acquire
due to subjectification that the functional differentiation between the two forms
has always been in place. However, a survey of the Oxford English Dictionary
(OED) reveals otherwise. First, with regard to their present-day usage, the OED
largely concurs with the division of labor detailed earlier, yet acknowledges the
fuzziness of the distinction:
In standard English the form farther is usually preferred where the word is
intended to be the comparative of far, while further is used where the
notion of far is altogether absent; there is a large intermediate class of
instances in which the choice between the two forms is arbitrary.
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Summarizing the OED’s etymological account, Fowler (2009 [1926]: 171) notes
that farther is essentially a respelling of further, one which is more assimilated to
the base far and substitutes for the now-obsolete regular comparative farrer.
Second, in their various meaning clusters, further and farther have diachronically
shown complete functional overlap from as early as the 14th century, with their
separate OED entries conflated below for illustration. As adjectives, further and
farther share the following senses:
(a) Obsolete: ‘prior, former; front’
(12) Gif ane horse slayes ane man passand before him, with his forther
feete. [‘front’ (1609, OED s.v. further adj.)]
(13) Of the two ferther maners Panecius dyd declare in thre bookes.
[‘prior/former’ (1534, OED s.v. farther adv. & adj.)]
(b) ‘More extended, going beyond what already exists or has been dealt with;
additional, more’
(14) Without any further delay, the King sent them away. [‘more
extended/additional/more’ (1582, OED s.v. further adj.)]
(15) There is one farther Objection made by those who have answered
this Book. [‘additional/more’ (1710, OED s.v. farther adv. & adj.)]
(c) ‘More distant, remoter’
(16) They would . . . goe foorth into a further countrey. [expressing
physical distance (1611, OED s.v. further adj.)]
(17) To hinder them from a farther prospect. [expressing figurative
distance (1651, OED s.v. farther adv. & adj.)]
Perhaps most revealing above is the use of adjectival farther as a
postdeterminer in the context of the NP in (15) and as a space adjunct with
reference to figurative distance in (17), two senses long held to be exclusively
associated with further in Present-Day English. Note also that this kind of
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functional overlap between further and farther is not only restricted to their
adjectival use; the same is also attested for their adverbial function, as
demonstrated in their combined senses below:
(d) ‘More forward; to or at a more advanced point of progress’
(18) Hither to shalt thou come, but no further. [spatial construal (1535,
OED s.v. further adv.)]
(19) Some Creatures cast their Eggs as Chance directs them, and think of
them no farther. [temporal construal (1711, OED s.v. farther adj. &
adv.)]
(e) ‘To a greater extent; more’
(20) Men who pretend to believe no further than they can see. [degree
modifier (1734, OED s.v. further adv.)]
(21) Sit downe For thou must now know farther. [degree modifier (1616,
OED s.v. farther adj. & adv.)]
(f) ‘In addition, besides, moreover’
(22) And, further, God is the only end that can . . . satisfy the soul with
bliss. [linking adverbial (1875, OED s.v. further adv.)]
(23) Nay farther, the common Motive of foreign Adventures was taken
away. [linking adverbial (1719, OED s.v. farther adj. & adv.)]
(g) ‘To or at a greater distance’
(24) Island disjoyned no further than a ship in one day may saile unto.
[space adjunct (1630, OED s.v. further adv.)]
(25) He would catch Her beauty farther than the falcon spies. [space
adjunct (1820, OED s.v. farther adj. & adv.)]
As can be seen above, farther had all the meanings that further continues to have
today. Indeed, the latest OED examples show that adverbial farther can be used in
a temporal (non-spatial) sense in (19), as a degree modifier in (21), or as a linking
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adverbial in (23). Curiously, all the above meanings of further and farther – with
the exception of (a) – remain in use. In practice, however, some sort of functional
differentiation between the two forms seems to operate in Present-Day English. In
this study, we aim to examine how this differentiation could have come about in
terms of actual language usage (keeping in mind the OED evidence detailed
above).
1.4 Research motivation and objectives
The current inquiry into further and farther is inspired by the fact that the two
forms have received very little attention in the literature. Aside from the usage
notes discussed earlier, the different senses of further and farther have not been
systematically investigated. In this thesis, we will confront the few usage claims
in reference grammars and the OED (which are based on a rather limited set of
observations) with comprehensive corpus data. Moving away from the largely
synchronic point of view that has dominated much of the literature, we will
approach the present topic by means of a diachronic corpus analysis of the two
forms from Early to Late Modern English. With this study rooted in the usage-
based theory of language change (see e.g. Langacker 1987, 1991; Croft 2000;
Tomasello 1998, 2002; Bybee 2010), our aim is twofold. First, against the
backdrop of existing literature, we will test for a possible competition or a
division of labor between further and farther in the corpus data from 1570 to
1920. Second, we will account for the functional differentiation between the two
forms that appears to be at work in Present-Day English. More specifically, the
thesis concerns itself with three main lines of research inquiry, which can be
summed up as follows:
• How are further and farther charted in the corpus data in terms of
frequency, and how did their distribution evolve from 1570 to 1920?